Moscow, April 24, Interfax - Two criminals with ties to ISIL were eliminated in the Stavropol Territory, the National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) said on Saturday.

"While carrying out a set of measures aimed at prevention of activities of a so-called sleeper cell of bandits that had sworn allegiance to the ISIL international terrorist organization, in the Stavropol Territory, officials of security agencies tried to stop the Lada Priora car driven by criminals on a rural road near the populated locality of Ust-Nevinsky, Kochubeyevsky District, at approximately 11:00 p.m. yesterday. However, individuals in the car opened fire from automatic weapons and attempted to flee. Two criminals were eliminated in a return fire," the NAC said.

"The criminals were tentatively identified: one of them was the leader of this cell who had trained in the ISIL camps and arrived in Russia to commit terror attacks, and the other was an active member of the cell," the NAC said.

"Security agencies have obtained information that the aforementioned bandits were intending to commit a number of crimes of a terrorist nature, including murders of religious figures and other civilians," the NAC said.

"A machine gun, ammunition for it and components of an improvised explosive device were found at the scene of the armed clash," the NAC's information center said.

"Grenades, a ready-to-use improvised explosive device filled with damaging agents, a non-lethal pistol, ISIL symbols and the literature of a religious extremist nature were found in the place of residence of one of the criminals. FSB bomb disposal experts have defused the discovered explosive objects," the NAC said.

"There were no victims among civilians and losses among personnel of law enforcement structures," the NAC said.

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